The advancement of computer technology and the affordability of fast microprocessors and large storage disks has led to the proliferation of powerful computers among consumers. One of the challenges in keeping pace with the ever expanding market of personal computers, is providing technical support for computer-related problems. Conventional technical support is provided via help desk support, via phone calls, vie websites, via e-mail and, in case of difficult problems, via technician house calls.
A growing service that has emerged in the past years is that of the online help-desk. Online help-desks originally used voice conversation or chat messaging for technical support. Currently, some online help desks use remote control applications, which enable a technician to remotely interact with an afflicted computer over the Internet, or over a company LAN. Such remote control applications may provide the technician with the same level of control as if he were sitting in front of the afflicted computer itself. Examples of such remote control applications include (i) PcAnywhere® developed and marketed by Symantec Corporation of Cupertino, Calif., (ii) Bomgar™ PC remote control software developed and marketed by Bomgar Corporation of Ridgeland, Miss., (iii) UltraVNC PC remote control software developed and marketed by Ultr@VNC, and (iv) NetSupport 24-7 developed and marketed by NetSupport, Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga. Some remote control applications integrate voice conversation and text chat with customer support, during a support session, such as (v) Linktivity®, marketed and developed by Inter-Tel, Inc. of Tucson, Ariz.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a prior art illustration of an online help-desk system. Shown in FIG. 1 is an afflicted personal computer (PC) 100, which connects to a remote help-desk 110 via an Internet gateway 120. Computer 100 runs remote control software that enables a technician using help-desk 110 to take control of computer 100, including keyboard and mouse input control, with output displayed to the technician. In particular, the technician is able to run diagnostic testing tools such as anti-virus software and registry scan software, and see the results of the tests.
A drawback with current help-desk technology is that it requires an operational Internet connection. As such, in cases where there is no available Internet connection or if the problem itself is lack of Internet connectivity, online help-desk support is useless.
It would thus be of advantage to have a help-desk technology that provides remote technical support without requiring that the afflicted computer be able to connect to the Internet.